The firmware is the software that provides instructions on how a device has to operate, thus making it run. The expression "re-flashing a device" refers to the action of re-installing a specific firmware on your Access Point - in this specific case, it refers to the installation of the Plasma Cloud firmware.
Before you begin, please ensure that you have a computer with a physical Ethernet port and a network cable to connect your Access Point with said port. In case your device is powered via PoE, it is advised not to use the same cable powering your device to connect with your computer to avoid breaking the network connection while powering your device off (as needed in step 7). If you don't have a spare cable available, you may use a 12V adapter to replace the PoE network cable.
To re-flash, follow the steps below:
If you are a Windows user, please follow this guide instead.
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( 1 ) Download the re-flashing tool
Download the Plasma Cloud re-flashing tool including the latest firmware.
( 2 ) Open a terminal window
The re-flashing tool does not have a graphical interface and must be run from a terminal window.
Launch a terminal window.
( 3 ) Change directory (folder) in the terminal window
You will now need to navigate to the folder where you saved the re-flashing tool using the terminal window:
- Determine the path needed to reach that folder;
- Type
cd
followed by the path in your terminal window.
For example, if you saved your re-flashing tool into /home/user/downloads, you will have to type cd /home/user/downloads
.
( 4 ) Adjust permissions
The re-flashing tool needs to be made executable:
- Type
chmod +x plasmacloud-flash
in your terminal window; and - Press Enter.
( 5 ) Launch the re-flashing tool to see the Ethernet interfaces
To launch the re-flashing tool, type ./plasmacloud-flash
then press Enter.
You should see an output similar to the following:
$ ./plasmacloud-flash Error - no interface specified Usage: ./plasmacloud-flash interface image flash router with given image ./plasmacloud-flash -v prints version information One or multiple images of the following type can be specified: * uboot image * ubiquiti image * combined image * combined ext image * Zyxel image The interface has to be one of the devices that are part of the supported device list which follows. You can either specify its name or the interface number. 1: lo
(No description available)
2: enp0s31f6
(No description available)
3: wlp2s0
(No description available)
4: enx00116b65ff72
(No description available)
The re-flashing tool will show a numerical list of potential network interfaces on your computer. At this point you need to pick the Ethernet interface where you intend to connect your access point to - in our example above it is "enx00116b65ff72".
If you do not see any Ethernet interface listed, either:
- Your computer has no Ethernet interfaces; or
- Your Ethernet driver is not loaded.
In the latter case, you will have to ask the distributors of your Linux version for assistance.
( 6 ) Launch the re-flashing tool to install the firmware
After determining which Ethernet interface you will be using,
- Type
sudo ./plasmacloud-flash #
, with "#" being the interface number (or name) from the previous step; - Press Enter (note that this step is executed as superuser because the re-flashing tool needs to handle a raw socket).
In the case of the output above, for instance, you should be typing sudo ./plasmacloud-flash
4
or sudo ./plasmacloud-flash enx00116b65ff72
.
( 7 ) Connect your Access Point to the Ethernet port
Connect your Access Point to the Ethernet port and power it on. If it was already on, first remove the power and then plug it back in.
( 8 ) Complete the re-flashing
Within 10 seconds you should get an output similar to the one below. If that's not the case,
- Remove the power from your Access Point and then plug it back in; and
- Check that the Ethernet interface you selected is correct.
$ sudo ./plasmacloud-flash enx00116b65ff72 [54:9C:27:00:38:01]: type 'PA300 router' detected [54:9C:27:00:38:01]: PA300 router: tftp client asks for 'fwupgrade.cfg', serving fwupgrade.cfg-PA300 portion of: embedded image (2 blocks) ... [54:9C:27:00:38:01]: PA300 router: tftp client asks for 'kernel-f222cf5f', serving kernel-f222cf5f portion of: embedded image (2719 blocks) ... [54:9C:27:00:38:01]: PA300 router: tftp client asks for 'rootfs-fbed401c', serving rootfs-fbed401c portion of: embedded image (6145 blocks) ... [54:9C:27:00:38:01]: PA300 router: image successfully transmitted - writing image to flash ...
This process generally takes from 3 to 5 minutes. Once the re-flashing has been successfully completed, you should see a message stating "flash complete. Device ready to unplug.".
( 9 ) Re-flash additional Access Points
The re-flashing tool will not exit on its own. You can either:
- Plug in another Access Point to repeat the process, starting from step ( 7 ); or
- Press "Ctrl+C" to terminate the re-flashing tool.
( 10 ) Pair the access point with Plasma Cloud
After having reconnected the Access Point to your local network, you will need to pair it with your Plasma Cloud network.
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